1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to the field of optimizing data transmission in a radio network. More specifically, this invention relates to minimizing the time between client and server communications by optimizing the link states.
2. Description of the Related Art
As people increasingly rely on personal computers, laptops, and mobile devices for information and entertainment, the demand for faster Internet access increases. The demand, however, is straining networks and resulting in dropped calls, poor cell-phone service, and delayed text and voice messages. See, for example, Jenna Wortham, Customers Angered as iPhones Overload AT&T, New York Times (Sep. 2, 2009). Many carriers are attempting to solve the problem by increasing their infrastructure in the form of new cell-phone towers to provide more bandwidth. Other companies are developing faster clients with new network technologies.
While these measures help to alleviate some of the problem, they are costly measures that ignore the overarching reason for the problem—delays incurred during a sequence of requests and responses that lead to poor user experience. Communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) and application protocols, such as hypertext transfer protocols (HTTP) include delays between transitioning from different link states, read time for loading webpages, etc.
Typical usage patterns, as studied and observed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), reveal that users typically load a website and read the first page before clicking on the second page. During this time, the link layer state typically transitions out of active state because of the inactivity. To access the second page, the user must wait for the link state to transition back to active, and then load the second page.
What is needed is a method for minimizing the time between client and server communications.